Last Piece

About the game

Last Piece is a chessboard strategy game to play in the browser, in the style of Shotgun King. You are the lone white king, armed with a shotgun against the whole black army, and you win each stage by eliminating the black king.

Each turn you pick an action: move the king one square, shoot in one of eight directions, or reload. After that the black army moves one piece, and any piece that reaches your king takes a life. The shot fans out in a cone and damage drops with distance: 10 point-blank, then 5, 3, 2 and 1 farther away. Every piece has its own health, from 3 for a pawn to 8 for the black king.

There are 64 stages. You start with 3 lives and 3 shells, and after each stage you win you pick one of three upgrades, such as more shells, range, a wider cone, a king's shield or dodging, while the black army also grows stronger from the sixth stage on. Every 8th stage brings the black king as a boss.

Scoring rewards few moves and many kills. Each stage is worth (200 + 60 per piece killed) times 20 divided by (20 + your moves), and clearing stage 64 adds 1000 points plus 100 per remaining life. The sequel is Last Piece 2, with the same rules.

How to play

1. Tap or click a highlighted square next to the king to walk one square; red squares are under attack and cost a life.
2. To shoot, use the Shoot button or the T key, pick the direction and confirm. The cone and the damage show before you fire.
3. With aim open, tap the same direction again, press Enter or Space, or click the Fire! button. Esc or Cancel aim goes back to moving.
4. Reloading (R key) uses your turn and puts shells back in the shotgun. With no shells you can only move or reload.
5. Eliminate the black king, which starts on e8, to clear the stage and pick an upgrade.
6. Shortcuts: M move, T shoot, R reload; arrows or W A S D move the king or pick the shot direction.

Game modes

• 1 player. One player: the psycho king alone against the black army, across 64 consecutive stages. The game ends when the king loses his last life or stage 64 is cleared.

Tips

• Damage drops with distance: shooting from up close kills almost anything, from afar it only wounds. Let a piece come near before you fire.
• The shot passes through up to two pieces if damage is left over after killing the first, so it pays to wait for pieces to line up.
• Red squares are under attack. Stepping on one costs a life, but after losing a life the next attack does no damage (the Recovering state).
• A shot breaks a piece's shield and stops there, with no damage; plan two shots against shielded pieces.
• Fewer moves are worth more points, and every stage starts with a full shotgun, so spend your shells freely.

The characters

Frequently asked questions